Scary Self Storage!
It’s spooky season – the time of year when things can get a little mysterious, a little wacky – and a lot strange, even in the wonderful world of Self Storage.
So would you like to hear some tales of the unexpected? Are you sitting comfortably? Good, then let’s begin – but proceed with caution as we cross the Atlantic (our research shows that Irish users of self-storage are thankfully very sensible!) and roll up the shutters on our Top 5 Self Storage Spine Chillers.
Finders Keepers
So many of these stories begin with the purchase of storage units at auction and this one is no exception. Back in 2004, in North Carolina, a man named Shannon Whisnant took ownership of his new unit which included one surprising tinfoil-wrapped item:
A human leg.
The unusual find made its way to the local news where it attracted the attention of the real owner – one John Wood who had lost the leg in the same plane crash that killed his father. As mementoes go, it’s right up there with the most bizarre, but Wood wanted to be buried with the leg when he died – so it was really unfortunate that once he’d had it embalmed, he’d totally forgotten where he’d put it for safe keeping.
The police ordered that the leg be turned over to a local funeral home but Whisnant wasn’t done with it and things got a whole lot weirder when he demanded the leg back – you see, he’d become known as “The Foot Man” and had turned the storage unit into a grisly tourist attraction which he charged people to view.
The situation descended into further craziness over time with both Wood and Whisnant becoming entirely obsessed with the Storage Locker Leg and it all eventually ended up having to be settled legally – on TV. The judge in the case eventually ordered the leg be returned to Wood.
There’s plenty more weirdness to this story but we’ve only got time for the bones (sorry) of it here – but you can check out the 2015 documentary Finders Keepers which tells the full tale.
Anyone Know Where Grandma Is?
For our second frightfest, we turn to Florida newspaper, the Tampa Bay Times which tells the story of Ann Bunch who passed away after – you’ll have to agree – a good innings of 95 years. Her loving family tailor-built a special coffin for her and painted it blue – her favourite colour – and hired a Ford Econoline Van to take her the nine-hour drive back to her family plot in Alabama. So far, so solemn.
But Ann never turned up.
Until 17 years later, that is, when police found her bespoke coffin containing Ann’s skeletal remains in a Clearwater, Florida self-storage unit also stuffed with trash bags and old TV’s. So how did Grandma end up there? The story goes that her daughter, Bobbie Barnett Hancock, never made it to Alabama thanks to a combination of poverty, heavy rainstorms and a dysfunctional truck. Distraught and embarrassed, she simply stashed her mother’s remains in the family self-storage unit – and left her there. The whole sorry affair came to light when Hancock’s daughter (Ann Bunch’s granddaughter), who had inherited the unit, was advised by the Self Storage company that it would be auctioned off if she didn’t pay her fees. The story goes that she replied with some information she’d learned at her mother’s deathbed:
“You can’t. So far as I know, my grandmother’s in one of those units.”
No criminal charges were brought in the end, and Grandma Ann eventually made it to Alabama, funded by some contacts of her second husband. Families, huh?
Out On A Limb
Our next creepy anecdote comes from Miami (Florida again?) where one unit sold at auction reportedly contained hundreds of shoes. What’s creepy about that, you ask? Well, just that they were all left-footed – which frankly poses more questions than it answers.
And to balance things out, reality TV show Storage Hunters turned up this beauty – a unit filled with hands. Big hands, little hands, tiny doll hands (shudder). This unit even contained a gruesome jar containing what looked like a human hand stored in formaldehyde. Don’t panic – they were all fake, thankfully. But ten out of ten on the creepy scale.
Anyone need a hand tidying up their storage unit?
Please Don’t Feel The Beat
To the Big Apple next – the lights, the energy, the … anthrax?
Back in 2006, a New York choreographer and drum maker managed to accidentally contract a naturally-occurring anthrax from working with unprocessed animal hides to make drums for his dance troupe. The discovery was made after he collapsed at a performance, and when anthrax spores were found at the storage unit where he kept his dumb – sorry, drum – making supplies, much panic ensued as the entire multi-level facility was closed down for cleaning and decontamination. Whatever you do, don’t mention the spore!
Sssssself-Sssssstorage
We round up our Top Five with something that’s guaranteed to trigger some Hallowe’en nightmares – snakes.
A 2017 NDTV story takes us to a Storage Unit in North Carolina where animal control officer Thomas Kelly Rouse is answering a call – not unusual for the time of year – regarding a snake on the loose. Used to these seasonal visits to remove snakes of about 3-ish feet in length, Rouse was unperturbed – until he got there and found that he was dealing with an 11-foot long Burmese Albino Python. Think Britney Spears at the 2001 VMAs and you’ve got the picture.
The 75-lb snake was safely captured and brought to an appropriate shelter – posing for a few Facebook photos along the way.
A Happy Ending for one snake
but ….
You didn’t think we’d leave it there, did you? We’re actually bidding you farewell with a little bonus – a cautionary tale of the serpentine variety.
A 2012 fire in a Virginia Storage Facility which destroyed 32 units and all the possessions of their renters was started by … guess what? Snakes, of course.
Well, not actually by the snakes themselves, but by the tenant who was storing the snakes in aquariums, covered by towels, connected by an extension cord which was powering heat lamps to keep the snakes warm. And this is why we don’t keep pets in Storage Units.
The Moral Of The Story …
Which serves as a timely reminder … stick to the terms of your contract … or else the bunny gets it! Mwah Ha Haaaaa!
Happy Halloween!
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